Bears WR Kevin White to have surgery on stress fracture, could miss season

Bears WR Kevin White to have surgery on stress fracture, could miss season

BOURBONNAIS — The bad news for Kevin White, which began with the rookie wide receiver and No. 7 pick of the 2015 NFL Draft suffering a stress fracture earlier this offseason, turned a little worse this week when the decision was made to have White undergo surgery after the injury failed to heal with rest alone.

Bears GM Ryan Pace confirmed the plan on Saturday, acknowledging that a chance exists that White could miss the season. Player and team remain hopeful, however, and the plan now is to leave White on the PUP list, meaning he could return after the first six games.

On the positive side, Pace said that the calf injury suffered late this week by receiver Alshon Jeffery is “mild” and not any threat to Jeffery being available for Week 1. Jeffery will not, however, be part of any practices or next Saturday’s game with the Indianapolis Colts.

The White injury occurred sometime in the later part of OTA’s and White did not practice in the final team minicamp nor in any of the training camp sessions. The surgery will involve inserting a rod in the tibia, a procedure that Bears wide receiver/returner Marc Mariani has had performed successfully.

Surgery earlier was considered but “a lot of times these stress fractures heal on their own, so that was our plan going forward, that was our hope going forward, which is why we had him stay off of it,” Pace said. Instead the Bears restricted him to the sidelines and only allowed him to begin light running last Monday.

White suffered a “setback” this week, Pace said, and took the news on surgery hard.

“He's emotional,” Pace said. “I know he sincerely cares about this organization, about his teammates, about coach [John] Fox. It's from the bottom of his heart, and that's why, to me - and I know, this is kind of a weird time to say this - but man, I'm telling you, that guy, it's confirmed to me the type of person he is, through this process.”

The immediate hope is to fill the void from within. Undrafted rookie Cameron Meredith from Illinois State flashed in the Bears' preseason-opening victory against the Miami Dolphnis and projects to get an expanded opportunity. Mariani was elevated to the No. 1 offense vs. Miami with Jeffery out and has Jay Cutler’s confidence as a sure-handed receiver.

“Obviously, right away, you look at your own roster,” Pace said. “There's guys that are going to have to step up and emerge and all those things are going to have to happen. We're confident with that.

“Just like all these positions, we're going to be scouring the preseason. Whether it's trade scenarios or claims, that part's actually fun as an evaluator, looking forward to that. There's some guys out here that are going to step up, and we feel confident with that.”

White began camp on the PUP list. He began light running early last week, but the pain returned, and the Bears opted that White undergo surgery.

How the Bears rate Nick Kwiatkoski will be the key to figuring out what this unit will look like in 2018. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio thought Kwiatkoski finished last season strong, but strong enough to rely on him in 2018 as the starter next to Danny Trevathan?

The thing with the Bears’ inside linebackers, though: Trevathan makes whoever is playing next to him better. The problem is Trevathan hasn’t been able to stay on the field — he missed time in 2017 with a calf injury and a one-game suspension, and missed half of 2016 after rupturing his Achilles’. Trevathan hasn’t played a full 16-game season since 2013, so durability is an issue for the soon-to-be 28-year-old.

So that leads to this question: Do the Bears need to find someone in free agency, regardless of how they value Kwiatkoski, who’s also missed time due to injuries in his first two years in the league?

Free agency could provide a few options. Demario Davis had a career high 97 tackles for the New York Jets last year and has never missed a game as a pro. Preston Brown had some decent production in Buffalo and also hasn’t missed a game since being drafted in 2014. Avery Williamson may not be a world-beater but has only missed one game in his four years in the NFL.

The Bears could also opt for someone who fits more of a rotational mold, like Dallas’ Anthony Hitchens, or try to lure a veteran linebacker like Navorro Bowman (who played for Vic Fangio in San Francisco) or Derrick Johnson (who Matt Nagy knows from his Kansas City days) to play next to Trevathan and/or Kwiatkoski.

The Bears could opt to keep the status quo and re-sign Christian Jones and John Timu for depth, and enter 2018 with Kwiatkoski and Trevathan as the team’s starters (Jerrell Freeman, who suffered a season-ending injury and then was hit with his second PED suspension in as many years, was cut on Tuesday). Signing a starting-caliber free agent isn’t out of the question, either, but there is a third option for the Bears if they appear to stand pat in free agency: Draft an inside linebacker in April. If that’s the route they go, Georgia’s Roquan Smith could be the guy. But again, those more pressing needs at other positions could mean the Bears don’t burn a first-round pick on an inside linebacker.

With Josh Sitton on his way out, what’s next for the Bears’ offensive line?

With Josh Sitton on his way out, what’s next for the Bears’ offensive line?

The first major move of Ryan Pace’s 2018 offseason hit on Tuesday, as NFL Network reported the Bears will not exercise Josh Sitton’s $8 million option for 2018.

The move accomplishes two things for the Bears: 1) It frees up about $8 million in cap space and 2) Removes a veteran from the offensive line and creates a hole to fill, presumably by a younger free agent or draft pick.

The 31-year-old Sitton signed a three-year deal with the Bears after Green Bay cut him just before the 2016 season, and was a Pro Bowler his first year in Chicago. Sitton played 26 of 32 games in two years with the Bears, but him being on the wrong side of 30 was likely the biggest factor here. If the Bears saw his skills eroding, releasing him now and netting the cap savings while going younger at the position does make sense.

“Going younger” doesn’t guarantee the Bears will draft Notre Dame brawler Quenton Nelson, though that did become a greater possibility with Tuesday’s move. Nelson might be one of the two or three best offensive players in this year’s draft, and offensive line coach Harry Hiestand knows him well from the four years they spent together at Notre Dame.

There’s a natural fit there, of course, but a few reasons to slow the Nelson-to-Chicago hype train: Would he even make it to No. 8? Or if he’s there, is taking a guard that high worth it when the Bears have needs at wide receiver, outside linebacker and cornerback? Still, the thought of Nelson — who absolutely dominated at Notre Dame — pairing with Hiestand again is tantalizing, and Nelson very well could step into any team’s starting lineup and be an immediate Pro Bowler as a rookie.

If the Bears go younger in free agency, Matt Nagy knows 26-year-old guard Zach Fulton (No. 25 in Bleacher Report’s guard rankings) well from their time in Kansas City. Fulton — a Homewood-Flossmoor alum — has the flexibility to play both guard positions and center, which could open the door for Cody Whitehair to be moved to left guard, the position he was initially drafted to play (though the Bears do value him highly as a center, and keeping him at one position would benefit him as opposed to moving him around the line again). There are some other guys out there — like Tennessee’s Josh Kline or New York’s Justin Pugh — that could wind up costing more than Fulton in free agency.

Or the Bears could look draft an offensive lineman after the first round, perhaps like Ohio State’s Billy Price, Georgia’s Isaiah Wynn or UTEP’s Will Hernandez. How the Bears evaluate guards at the NFL Combine next week will play an important role in how they go about replacing Sitton.

The trickle-down effect of releasing Sitton will impact more than the offensive line, too. Freeing up his $8 million in cap space -- which wasn't a guarantee, unlike cutting Jerrell Freeman and, at some point, Mike Glennon -- could go toward paying Kyle Fuller, or another top cornerback, or a top wide receiver, or some combination of players at those positions (as well as outside linebacker). The Bears were already in a healthy place cap-wise; that just got healthier on Tuesday.